


What's in a Name

by Ihasa (Ihasafandom)



Category: Venom (Comics), Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Alien Biology, Alien Culture, Fluff, Gen, Identity, M/M, Name Changes, Names, Symbiotic Relationship, Talking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:33:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28074021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ihasafandom/pseuds/Ihasa
Summary: So tell me, love; why "Venom?"---Eddie asks V a question. V gets introspective.
Relationships: Eddie Brock & Venom Symbiote, Eddie Brock/Venom Symbiote
Comments: 6
Kudos: 49
Collections: Text by Ifer, Venom-X-Change-2020





	What's in a Name

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Oh_My (OhDearIGuessThisIsWhatIDeserve)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OhDearIGuessThisIsWhatIDeserve/gifts).



So tell me, love; why "Venom?"

  
**It is our name.**

  
Well, yeah, but why? I know it wasn't your name before you came to Earth; what made you change it?

  
**We change with every host we take, an aggregate of our past bonds. New proteins in our mass, new abilities, new memories and knowledge and strategies; new ways of thinking and being. Mostly these are tiny changes, barely noticeable except as a record of our history. But enough to evolve, to stay at the top of the food chain.**

  
So, what, you change your name with every host? That must get complicated.

  
**No, Eddie. These are all little changes. A name is a big change, it marks a shift, a reconstruction of identity and direction as much as in form.**

  
Why now then?

  
**You, Eddie. What else could change us but you? You are our perfect match, even if we did not admit it at first; and even then we knew that our bonding would be the catalyst for a new permutation of our existence.**

  
And you chose Venom because?

  
**Because of you, because of US. It is not _MY_ name, it is _OUR_ name. We looked at our joining and we saw what we could be at our very best. A bite, yes, wounding sharp and deep and obvious with violence. But that is only the tip, and not our true strength. That lies with what's underneath the bite. Venom is as much for protection as simply taking down prey. Able to neutralize predators much bigger than we are, prying a hole in the enemy's defenses and turning their own systems and forces against them as they bring us to their most vital organs, exposed and vulnerable. You bring that out in us, Eddie. The desire, the ability to protect as much as harm.**

  
Turn them against themselves, huh? How would we do that, do we have some kind of mind control that I don't know about? I guess your eyes are kind of hypnotic.

  
**Eddie; Eddie we did that last week with the human trafficking ring.**

  
What? We didn't; Venom didn't have anything to do with that. That was the police and the public finally crucifying those scumbags like they deserve. Sure, my expose on the Brock Report might have helped things along, and you gave me an assist here and there don't get me wrong, but that was just me doing the journalism thing; it wasn't US.

  
**Don't be stupid, Eddie. You think that we are only Us, only Venom, when we wear our teeth on the outside? You are never alone, Eddie. We are One no matter our form and you are as much Venom as I am. We are Venom no less when Eddie Brock is on the outside as when I am. Together we hunted for information and together we formed it into a poison that we delivered just where it would do the most damage. That we did not rend each of those pathetic little men with our own claws does not matter; if it did we would have chosen a different name.**

**We would not be Venom without you, Eddie. Meeting you changed me on a fundamental level, and even were we ripped apart I would remain Venom for long after you were gone.**

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not too familiar with Venom canon from the comics, so I hope this holds up as not too canon noncompliant. Also I don't usually write, so this was an interesting challenge! I figured cultural stuff could be better conveyed via text, though I'm also making an art which I may or may not put in this fic later since it's not exactly relevant to the story itself.


End file.
